EDUCATIONAL  MONOGRAPHS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

New  York  College  for  the  Training  of  Teachers 

NICHOLAS  MURRAY  BUTLER,  EDITOR 


Vol.  III.  No.  5.  { E”ter^‘^nd°c®“/l?«"York  } Whole  No.  17. 


HAND- CRAFT 


BY 

JAMES  CRICHTON-BROWNE,  M.D.,  LL.D,  F.R.S., 

Lord  Chancellor's  Visitor , Vice-President  of  the  Royal 
Institution  of  Great  Britain , and  Member  of  the 
Academy  of  Medicine  of  New  York . 


SEPTEMBER,  1890 


New  York:  9 University  Place 
London:  Thomas  Laurie,  28  Paternoster  Row 


Issued  Bi-Monthly 


[$1.00  Per  Annum. 


‘‘These  publications  are  doing  an  admirable  work.”— G.  Stnley  Hall. 

EDUCATIONAL  MONOGRAPHS 

Published  under  the  auspices  of  the  NEW  YORK  COLLEGE  FOR  THE. 
TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS,  and  written  by  the  foremost  Educators  and 
Public  School  Workers  both  in  this  country  and  abroad,  furnish  a series 
of  papers  to  teachers  on  the  Educational  Questions  of  the  Day.  The  papers 
are  concise,  clear  and  comprehensive,  especial  prominence  being  given  to  the 
Manual  Training  Movement. 

Six  Monographs  appear  each  ^ear,  and  the  subscription  price  is  fixed  at 
the  extremely  low  price  of  $1.00  per  annum. 

The  following  have  already  appeared : 

I.  A Plea  for  the  Training  of  the  Hand,  by  D.  C.  Gilman,  LL.D.,  Presi- 

dent of  Johns  Hopkins  University. — Manual  Training  and  the  Public 
School,  by  H.  H.  Belfield,  Ph.D.,  Director  of  the  Chicago  Manual 
Training  School.  24  pp. 

“ For  the  student  or  teacher  who  is  making  a study  of  manual  training  this  first  number 
of  the  Educational  Monograph  Series  is  the  best  possible  introduction  to  the  subject.”' 
— Science. 

II.  Education  in  Bavaria,  by  Sin  Philip  Magnus,  Director  of  the  City 

and  Guilds  of  London  Institute. 

III.  Physical  and  Industrial  Training  of  Criminals,  by  Dr.  H.  D.  Wet, 
of  State  Reformatory,  Elmira,  N.  Y. 

IV.  Mark  Hopkins,  Teacher,  by  Prof.  Levebett  W.  Spring,  of  Williams 
College. 

V.  Historical  Aspects  of  Education,  by  Oscar  Browning,  M.  A.,  of 
King’s  College,  Cambridge. 

VI.  The  Slojd  in  the  Service  of  the  School,  by  Dr.  Otto  Salomon, 
Director  of  the  Normal  School  at  Naas,  Sweden. 

VII.  -VIII.  Manual  Training  in  Elementary  Schools  for  Boys,  by 
Prof.  A.  Sluys,  of  the  Normal  School,  Brussels. 

IX.  The  Training  of  Teachers  in  Austria,  by  Dr.  E.  Hannak,  Director  of 
the  Padagogium  at  Vienna. 

X.  Domestic  Economy  in  Public  Education,  by  Mrs.  Ellen  H. 
Richards,  of  Mass.  Institute  of  Technology. 

XI.  Form  Study  and  Drawing  in  the  Common  Schools,  by  the  late  John 
H.  French,  Ph.D.,  Director  of  Drawing,  New  York  State. 

“ This  Monograph  will  do  much  good.  It  is  an  exceedingly  valuable  aid  to  teachers.” — 
W.  S.  Goodnough,  Superintendent  of  Drawing,  Columbus,  O. 

XII.  Graphic  Methods  in  Teaching,  by  Charles  Barnard. 

XIII.  Manual  Training  in  the  Public  Schools,  by  Charles  R.  Richards,. 
and  Henry  P.  O’Neil. 

XIV.  Manual  Training  in  the  Public  Schools  of  Philadelphia,  by 

James  MacAlister,  LL.B. 

XV.  Manual  Training  in  France,  by  A.  Salicis. — Suggestions  for  the 
Teaching  of  Color,  by  Prof.  Hannah  J.  Carter. 

XVI.  The  Co-Education  of  Mind  and  Hand,  byCHARLES  H.  Ham. 

XVII.  Hand-craft,  By  James  Crichton  Browne,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  F.  R.  S. 
The  following  are  in  preparation: 

The  American  High  School,  by  Ray  Greene  Huling,  of  New  Bedford,  Mass. 

The  German  Realschule,  by  Dr.  F.  Laubert. 

The  American  Normal  School,  by  Prof.  J.  P.  Gordy. 

The  Elementary  School,  by  Col.  Francis  W.  Parker. 

“ The  ideal  and  the  possible  are  drawn  nearer  together  in  these  helpful  pamphlets  than 
many  people  would  venture  to  hope.  The  teacher  who  desires  to  be  really  progressive 
cannot  afford  to  do  without  this  series  of  masterly  tracts.” — The  American  Hebrew. 

For  Monographs,  Leaflets  or  Circulars  of  Information,  address,  enclosing  postal  note 
or  money  order  payable  to  the  New  York  College  for  the  Training  of  Teachers,  (One  and 
two-cent  stamps  may  also  be  sent.) 

Registrar  of  the  College  for  the  Training  of  Teachers, 

9 University  Place,  New  York  City. 


EDUCATIONAL  MONOGRAPHS 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE 

New  York  College  for  the  Jraining  of  Teachers 

NICHOLAS  MURRAY  BUTLER,  EDITOR 


Vol.  III.  No.  5.  j Enler^$^nTdr,*nS'Y"rk  } Whole  No.  17. 


HANDCRAFT 


BY 

JAMES  CRICHTON-BROWNE,  M.D.,  LL.D,  F.R.S., 

Lord  Chancellor’s  Visitor,  Vice-President  of  the  Royal  Institution 
of  Great  Britain,  and  Member  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine 
of  New  York . 


SEPTEMBER,  1890 


New  York  : 9 University  Place 
London  : Thomas  Laurie,  28  Paternoster  Row 


Issued  Bi-Monthly 


[$1.00  Per  Annum. 


PREFATORY  NOTE. 


At  the  request  of  several  educationists  the  Editor  takes 
great  pleasure  in  printing  in  the  EDUCATIONAL  MONO- 
GRAPHS, with  the  consent  and  approval  of  the  author, 
the  following  paper  on  Handcraft  which  first  appeared  in 
the  National  Review  for  August,  1888.  It  is  believed  that 
Dr.  Crichton-Browne’s  exposition  of  the  physiological 
argument  for  Manual  Training  will  be  a valuable  aid  in  the 
contemporary  discussion  of  this  educational  problem.  It 
is  in  some  respects  unfortunate  that  the  author  had  not 
studied  the  effect  of  introducing  constructive  work  in  wood 
and  iron  into  the  schools  of  Sweden,  France  and  the 
United  States  before  reaching  his  conclusions  as  to  that 
aspect  of  the  question. 


Copyright,  1890, 

New  York  College  for  the  Training  of  Teachers. 


Handcraft. 


Whoever  takes  a comprehensive  survey  of  England  in 
these  days,  and  notes  the  teeming  masses  in  her  cities  and 
towns,  the  prolific  multitudes  scattered  in  her  hamlets  and 
cottages,  and  the  increasing  inadequacy  of  her  fields,  even 
when  brought  to  their  highest  state  of  cultivation,  to 
support  their  human  burden,  must  soon  realize  the  vital 
significance  of  the  question,  “Wherewithal  shall  we  buy 
bread  that  these  may  eat  ?”  And  the  obvious  answer  to 
that  question,  that  the  means  to  provide  sustenance  for 
this  great  company  must  be  procured  by  exchanging  for 
food  the  products  of  their  industry,  is  scarcely  calculated 
to  allay  the  anxiety  that  it  has  conjured  up,  for  we  are 
told  from  many  quarters  that'  our  industrial  supremacy  is 
on  the  wane,  and  that  foreign  nations  are  rapidly  sup- 
planting us  in  those  markets  where  we  have  been  wont  to 
exchange  for  corn  the  fruits  of  our  skill  and  labor.  After 
the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1867,  the  cry  was  first  raised  as  to 
continental  and  American  progress  in  engineering  and 
manufactures,  and  since  that  time  we  have  had  to  listen  to 
an  ever  swelling  chorus  of  voices  warning  us  that  we  are 
losing  our  leading  position  in  the  race  of  races,  and  must 
redouble  our  efforts  if  we  are  to  hold  our  own.  Now  it 
is,  as  far  as  we  are  concerned,  unhappily  too  true,  that 
several  foreign  countries  have  developed  their  manufac- 
tures in  a remarkable  way  in  recent  times,  and  deprived  us 
of  some  of  the  advantages  which  we  formerly  enjoyed  in 
competing  with  them ; but  it  is,  I venture  to  say,  not 
true  that  there  has  been,  as  we  are  often  assured,  any 
decadence  in  the  ingenuity,  intelligence,  skill  or  perse- 
verance of  our  working  population,  or  that  they  have 


p 


154 


Handcraft . 


[4 


failed,  during  the  last  twenty  years,  to  advance  as  rapidly 
as  any  population  in  the  world,  in  all  the  constructive  and 
decorative  arts. 

The  gloom  and  chilliness  of  that  protracted  depression 
of  trade  which  has  hung  round  our  planet  like  a belt  of 
Saturn  for  several  years,  but  which  may  be  dissipated  any 
morning  by  a brisk  trade  wind — springing  up  no  man 
knows  where — the  gloom  and  chilliness  of  this  depression 
predisposes  us  to  pessimistic  views,  and  to  give  credence 
to  statements  which  in  brighter  moments  we  would  brush 
impatiently  aside.  And  thus  it  is,  I think,  that  even 
sagacious  heads  are  shaken  over  statements  like  that  of 
Mr.  Oscar  Browning,  that  we  are  every  year  losing  ground 
in  the  race  of  industry  to  the  better-trained  foreigner, 
owing  to  our  deplorable  education,  which  prevents  us  at 
present  from  looking  any  foreigner  in  the  face  without  a 
blush  ; or  like  that  of  Mr.  Wilson,  Head  Master  of  Clifton 
College,  that  he  came  back  from  a visit  to  the  continent 
with  a feeling  of  humiliation,  not  unmixed  with  alarm, 
when  he  contrasted  our  condition  and  prospects  with 
those  of  our  industrial  rivals  ; or  like  that  of  Mr.  Felkin, 
that  England  is  being  robbed  in  detail  of  her  industrial 
supremacy;  or  like  that  of  Mr.  Mundella,  that  everyone 
must  know  that  what  we  have  to  contend  with  is  the  lack 
of  technical  instruction  for  our  working  classes. 

The  difficulties  and  dangers  that  beset  our  industrial 
position  are  serious  enough,  and  the  need  of  an  improved 
system  of  technical  education  amongst  us  is  indisputable  ; 
but  our  difficulties  are  not  to  be  overcome  by  miscon- 
ceiving their  source,  nor  ought  our  wants  to  be  supplied 
on  an  exaggerated  estimate  of  the  benefits  that  are  to 
accrue  from  the  improvements  we  desire.  And  that  it  is  a 
misconception  to  suppose  that  our  industrial  embarrass- 
ments have  arisen  from  any  deterioration  or  diminished 
rate  of  progress  in  the  abilities  or  energies  of  our  working 
classes,  or  that  they  can  be  relieved  by  technical  education 


51 


Handcraft. 


155 


alone,  however  valuable  that  may  be,  I hope  to  be  able  to 
show.  A rich  and  varied  storehouse  of  facts  bearing  on 
the  point  at  issue  is  to  be  found  in  the  Report  of  the  Royal 
Commission  on  Technical  Instruction,  and  anyone  who 
will  take  the  trouble  to  ransack  that  storehouse  through 
and  through,  as  I have  done,  will,  I think,  arrive  at  the 
comforting  conclusion  that  we  have  no  occasion  to  feel 
humiliated  or  to  go  about  Europe  blushing  when  the 
skill  of  our  artizans  and  fabricators  is  in  question.  The 
Commissioners,  who  were  appointed  specially  to  compare 
the  industrial  capabilities  of  our  own  people  with  those  of 
other  countries,  may  be  assumed  to  have  directed  their 
attention  more  particularly  to  those  industries  in  which 
comparison  was  most  easy,  and  in  which  England  is  most 
closely  pressed  ; and  it  is,  therefore,  highly  reassuring  to 
find  that  in  almost  every  branch  of  industry  the  palm  is 
unhesitatingly  awarded  to  this  country.  Their  visits  to 
establishments  on  the  Continent,  their  conversations  with 
the  most  eminent  authorities,  and  with  work-people  in 
every  department  of  manufacture  which  they  investigated, 
and  the  inquiries  carried  on  for  them  by  deputies,  have  all 
combined  to  convince  the  Commissioners  that,  taking  the 
arts  of  construction  and  the  staple  manufactures  as  a 
whole,  our  people  “still  maintain  their  position  at  the 
head  of  the  industrial  world.” 

Let  me  quote  the  verdicts  of  the  Commissioners,  or  of 
those  whom  they  consulted,  upon  a few  of  the  industries 
which  they  passed  under  review.  “In  the  ironworks  of 
Westphalia,”  they  say,  “it  was  admitted  that  England 
may  fairly  claim  the  pre-eminence  of  the  world.”  “In 
cotton-spinning  and  weaving”  in  Belgium,  they  remark, 
“English  machinery  and  models  are  adopted  everywhere, 
and  English  competition  is  the  despair  of  every  mill- 
owner.”  In  the  engineering  works  at  Chemnitz,  they 
report,  “the  superiority  of  English  over  other  tools  was 
willingly  acknowledged,  while  we  satisfied  ourselves  that 


156 


Handcraft. 


L6 


the  workmen  there  do  not  get  through  the  same  quantity 
of  work  that  English  workmen  accomplish.”  In  calico- 
printing,  they  conclude,  “England  still  remains  undoubted 
master.”  With  reference  to  the  textile  manufactures  of 
Saxony,  they  say,  “Both  yarns  and  pieces  are  generally 
in  a better  state  after  leaving  the  spinner  and  weaver 
in  England  than  in  Germany  and  France,  while  in  the 
spinning  of  lustre,  demi-lustre,  and  damask  yarns,  the 
manufacturers  admitted  that  Bradford  stands  unrivalled.’’ 
As  regards  the  dyeing  of  mixed  goods  with  cotton  warp 
in  the  woollen  industries  of  France,  they  intimate,  “the 
French  merchants  are  willing  to  admit  the  superiority 
of  English  dyers.”  In  respect  of  the  silk  industries  of 
Creffeld,  they  explain  that  “the  manufacturers  there  are 
much  less  afraid  of  the  future  competition  of  France  and 
Switzerland  than  of  England.  In  power-loom  weaving  in 
particular,  and  in  improvements  in  machinery,  one  Eng- 
lish manufacturer  has  outstripped  all  rivals,  and  at  the 
present  time  the  honor  of  possessing  the  largest  and 
probably  the  most  successful  silk  factory  in  the  world, 
belongs  to  a Yorkshire  manufacturer.”  At  the  cotton-mill 
of  MM.  Henrich  Kunz  the  Commissioners  were  assured 
by  Mr.  Hans  Wunderly,  whose  judgment  is  entitled  to 
the  greatest  weight,  that  the  English  are  at  the  head  of 
all  the  workmen  he  has  ever  seen,  and  he  is  familiar 
with  those  of  France,  Switzerland,  Germany,  and  Italy. 
“ For  practical  knowledge  of  their  work  and  mechanical 
genius”  they  are,  Mr.  Wunderly  declared,  “better  without 
technical  education  than  continental  workmen  are  with  it, 
while  for  physical  endurance  and  all-round  capacity  they 
know  no  rivals.” 

These  extracts,  taken  at  random  from  the  second  part 
of  the  Report,  might  have  been  multiplied  indefinitely,  but 
they  are  perhaps  sufficient  to  establish  that  there  is  over- 
whelming evidence  that  the  right  hands  of  our  workmen 
have  not  lost  their  cunning.  One  rises  from  the  perusal 


7] 


Handcraft. 


15  7 


of  the  Report  without  blushing  or  humiliation,  but  with 
a feeling  of  just  pride  that  the  inhabitants  of  this  little 
island  should  still  so  manifestly  excel  in  so  many  and 
such  diverse  pursuits.  Each  country  on  the  Continent  of 
Europe  has  some  one  particular  star  of  industry,  by  which 
it  is  distinguished,  but  this  country  has  a whole  galaxy 
to  boast  of.  And,  indeed,  our  own  experience  in  little 
matters  leads  us  to  the  same  conclusion  as  the  Commis- 
sioners on  Technical  Education,  for  if  we  want  a really 
good  watch,  a trustworthy  and  lasting  timekeeper,  we  ask 
for  one  of  English  make,  the  Ecole  Horlogerie  of  Besan- 
<^on  notwithstanding ; and  if  we  want  a pair  of  gloves  that 
will  fit  and  hold  together,  we  look  for  a big  D on  the 
buttons,  and  prefer  that  as  a guarantee  to  any  French  or 
Saxony  trade-mark. 

But  while  the  Report  of  the  Technical  Commissioners 
affords  not  a tittle  of  evidence  that  there  has  been  in 
England  any  decline  or  fall  in  the  dexterity,  ingenuity,  or 
productiveness  of  our  work-people,  of  any  class,  it  supplies 
abundant  confirmation  of  the  statement,  often  repeated 
and  now  painfully  brought  home  to  many  of  us,  that  there 
has  been  an  enormous  development  of  manufacturing 
power  on  the  Continent  in  various  branches  of  industry  in 
the  last  quarter  of  a century,  and  that  our  markets  are 
being  encroached  on  and  taken  from  us  by  rivals,  who,  if 
they  do  not  equal  us  in  skill  yet  surpass  us  in  the  cheap- 
ness of  the  commodities  which  they  produce,  and  in  their 
persistent  energy  in  forcing  these  upon  the  markets. 
Everywhere  on  the  Continent  we  hear  of  the  establish- 
ment of  new  works  and  mills,  or  of  the  extension  ol 
old  ones,  and  of  endeavors  to  undersell  England  and  oust 
her  from  markets  of  which  she  formerly  held  exclusive 
possession.  Vast  strides  have  been  made  by  France 
Germany,  and  Switzerland  in  the  exportation  of  manu- 
factured goods  of  many  kinds,  which  England  at  one 
time  supplied  to  all  who  wanted  them,  and  the  utmost 


Handcraft. 


i58 


[8 


activity  prevails  in  these  countries  in  pushing  their  trade 
and  diminishing  the  cost  of  their  productions. 

Now  if  we  inquire  how  it  is  that  England  with  unreduced 
skill  and  energy  and  command  of  capital  is  suffering  so 
severely  in  the  competition  that  is  going  on,  we  come 
upon  several  explanations.  Many  of  what  ought  to  be 
our  greediest  markets  are  closed  to  us  by  foreign  tariffs, 
while  foreign  operatives  are  content  to  work  for  far  longer 
hours,  and  for  far  lower  wages,  than  our  own.  Then 
foreign  manufactures  are  not  hampered  to  the  same 
degree  with  English  ones,  by  restrictive  Factory  Acts  and 
regulations  as  to  the  employment  of  children,  nor  are 
they  embarrassed  as  much  by  the  dictation  of  trades 
unions,  nor  do  they  on  the  whole  suffer  as  much  from 
time-breaking  through  drink.  Railway  rates,  again,  are 
sometimes  in  favor  of  the  foreign  manufacturer  as  against 
his  English  opponent,  while  in  mountainous  districts  on 
the  Continent  cheap  power  is  obtained,  in  a way  denied 
to  England,  by  the  abundant  water-supply  utilized  for 
motive  purposes  by  turbines.  But  of  all  the  causes  which 
have  contributed  to  the  success  of  continental  countries 
in  their  industrial  attacks  on  England  the  most  potent 
has  perhaps  been  the  unstinted  introduction  into  them  of 
English  machinery,  and  of  trained  English  instructors. 
When  steam-engines  were  first  introduced,  and  for  years 
afterwards,  England  was  fortunately  situated  in  having 
abundant  supplies  of  coal  and  iron,  a clever  set  of  handi- 
craftsmen, and  ample  capital,  advantages  not  shared  by 
the  rest  of  the  world.  The  natural  result  was  that  the 
multiplied  production  of  the  machine,  combined  with 
the  excellence  and  increased  cheapness  of  the  product, 
enabled  her  to  compete  everywhere  with  all  comers. 
Hence  the  very  large  profits  made  in  the  early  days  of 
machinery,  when  the  foundation  of  the  prosperity  of  the 
principal  northern  manufacturing  towns  and  firms  was  laid. 
“ The  nation  most  happily  placed  for  taking  advantage  of 


9] 


Handcraft. 


159 


steam  naturally  reaped  a great  harvest,  but  as  the  use 
of  steam  superseding  human  labor  has  spread,  and  as 
machinery  for  the  utilization  of  steam  has  been  acquired 
by  continental  countries,  the  primary  and  exceptional 
advantages  of  England  have  shrunk.”  The  fact  is,  that 
England  has  been  long  busily  engaged  in  distributing 
over  the  Continent  weapons  with  which  she  is  now  herself 
assailed  ; and  go  where  you  will,  you  now  find  the  most 
perfect  creations  of  English  hands  doing  their  best  to 
steal  the  bread  from  English  mouths.  Nearly  all  the 
cotton-spinning  machinery  in  France,  Belgium,  and  the 
Rhine  provinces,  has  been  imported  from  England.  The 
wool-combing  establishments  of  France  are  furnished  with 
splendid  machinery  and  engines  from  England,  and  so  are 
the  woolen  factories  of  Belgium  and  Italy.  In  textile 
factories  everywhere  looms  from  Bradford  and  Keighley 
are  found  at  work,  and  in  hosiery  factories  also  English 
machinery  abounds.  In  engineering  and  steel  and  iron 
works  in  Belgium,  Switzerland,  and  Germany,  English 
tools  and  machinery  are  extensively  employed.  In  every 
corner  of  Europe  where  industry  has  raised  its  head, 
the  mechanical  slaves  of  England  are  toiling  for  foreign 
masters,  and  not  only  so,  but  English  men  as  well  as 
machines  are  found  enlisted  in  the  campaign  against  the 
mother  country.  Several  essentially  English  industries 
have  been  transplanted  to  the  Continent  by  colonies  of 
English  operatives,  who  have  been  induced  to  take  up 
their  abode  there,  and  English  managers,  foremen,  super- 
intendents, engineers,  and  mechanics  have  been  chiefly 
instrumental  in  developing,  and  are  largely  employed  in 
directing  many  kinds  of  manufacture  in  every  part  of 
Europe.  But  here  we  come  upon  indications  of  the  effects 
of  the  higher  scientific  and  technical  education  which 
is  now  being  zealously  carried  on  in  many  Continental 
States,  for  the  evidence  is  clear  that  English  managers 
and  foremen  are  not  now  as  frequently  employed  on  the 


160  Handcraft . [io 

continent  as  they  formerly  were.  The  theoretical  instruc- 
tion in  the  scientific  principles  applicable  to  trade  and  the 
practical  training*  afforded  in  polytechnic  schools,  insure 
now  an  ample  supply  of  persons  competent  to  become 
heads  of  departments,  capable  of  anticipating  results,  of 
calculating  beforehand  the  quantity  and  quality  of  mate- 
rials required,  of  originating  new  methods,  and  of  meeting 
contingencies.  English  foremen  and  superintendents  are 
therefore  not  in  such  request  as  they  once  were.  The 
opinion  of  the  well-informed  seems  to  be  all  but  unani- 
mous that  technical  training  is  of  the  first  importance  to 
those  who  are  to  take  a leading  and  controlling  part  in 
works,  and  especially  in  works  connected  with  chemical 
industries,  but  opinion  seems  to  be  almost  equally  unani- 
mous that  technical  instruction  may  very  well  stop  here, 
and  that  it  is  not  necessary  or  desirable  for  the  lower 
strata  of  the  toiling  masses.  Leaving  out  of  view  at 
present  the  beneficial  influence  of  various  subjects,  scien- 
tific and  practical,  included  under  technical  education  as 
recreative  and  elevating  pursuits,  it  is  of  interest  to  note 
that  all  over  Europe  those  who  know  most  of  large  indus- 
trial concerns  put  a strict  limit  to  what  technical  educa- 
tion can  accomplish,  and  do  not  expect  from  it  any 
improvement  in  the  skill  or  fertility  of  the  general  body 
of  workpeople.  That  the  marked  superiority  of  England 
in  manufactures  hitherto  has  been  in  no  way  attributable 
to  technical  education,  will  be  obvious  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  the  great  complaint  against  us  is  that  we  have 
neglected  this,  in  comparison  with  our  neighbors,  and 
that  the  remarkable  advances  in  manufacturing  prosperity 
achieved  by  our  neighbors  cannot  justly  be  ascribed  to 
it,  becomes  clear  when  it  is  demonstrated  that  this  may 
almost  invariably  be  traced  in  each  particular  case  to  some 
other  cause.  In  many  instances  we  find  the  Technical 
Commissioners  themselves  guarding  against  exaggerated 
notions  as  to  what  this  special  education  has  done  or  can 


II] 


Handcraft. 


r6i 


do.  “In  France,”  they  observe,  “as  in  other  countries, 
we  did  not  receive  any  evidence  that  technical  schools 
have  been  of  advantage  to  spinning  or  weaving.”  “If 
the  hosiery  and  glove  manufactures  of  Chemnitz,”  they 
remark,  “are  taking  a strong  position,  this  appears  to 
be  due  to  other  conditions  and  not  to  the  influence  of 
technical  education.”  “ In  the  silk  industries  of  Rhenish 
Prussia,”  they  add,  “it  was  represented  that  theoretical 
knowledge  would  be  a drawback  to  the  workers.”  One  of 
the  chief  engineers  of  Saxony  discredited  technical  schools 
to  the  Commissioners,  because  they  subordinate  the  prac- 
tical to  the  theoretical,  and  Dr.  Siemens  told  them  that 
there  are  more  polytechnic  schools  in  Germany  than  are 
necessary. 

And  here  the  question  may  properly  be  asked,  What 
are  the  conditions,  then,  which  have  favored  the  industrial 
superiority  which  this  country  has  so  long  enjoyed  ? If 
technical  education  is  of  value  only  to  the  pioneers,  what 
is  it  that  has  made  the  great  army  of  workers  capable  of 
following  their  lead?  What  is  it,  and  this  is  really  the 
supreme  question  for  us,  that  in  the  absence  of  technical 
education  has  enabled  the  English  nation  to  assume  a 
commanding  position  in  most  of  the  fields  of  industry 
which  it  has  entered,  and  that  must  receive  attention  if 
that  commanding  position  is  to  be  maintained?  We  have 
already  in  part  answered  this  question  when  adverting  to 
the  advantages  of  England’s  geographical  position,  and 
of  her  mineral  wealth,  but  other  factors  have  contributed 
in  no  mean  degree  to  her  industrial  supremacy,  and  to 
these  I would  direct  attention.  They  consist  in  (i)  the 
characteristics  of  the  race,  (2)  the  good  health  of  the 
people,  (3)  their  inherited  skill,  (4)  the  early  training  of 
their  hands. 

The  characteristics  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  which  in 
its  westward  migrations  gave  it  victory  over  feebler  tribes, 
have  availed  it  in  its  industrial  conflicts  not  less  than  in 


Handcraft. 


[12 


162 

its  territorial  wars,  and  given  it  possession  of  many  of  the 
most  fruitful  portions  of  the  earth’s  surface,  thus  enabling 
it  to  secure  for  itself  that  ample  supply  of  food  which  is 
essential  to  good  physical  development  and  sound  health. 
And  good  physical  development  and  sound  health  have 
again  nourished  the  spirit  of  enterprise,  enabled  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  to  extend  its  dominion,  and  played  a far 
larger  part  than  is  often  appreciated  in  the  establishment 
of  that  commercial  and  industrial  supremacy  which  it 
has  heretofore  enjoyed.  It  is  not  insular  vanity,  but 
scientific  truth,  to  say  that  the  English  prople  excel  all 
other  European  peoples  at  this  day  in  bodily  development 
and  health.  In  height,  weight,  and  chest  girth  any  large 
number  of  Englishmen  will  give  a higher  average  than 
an  equal  number  of  Frenchmen,  Germans,  or  Belgians. 
Army  returns  relating  to  conscripts  and  recruits,  vital 
statistics  dealing  with  the  mortality  of  large  towns,  and 
the  results  of  investigations  as  to  the  relative  prevalence 
of  certain  forms  of  disease,  put  it  beyond  cavil  that  the 
standard  of  health  is  higher  with  us  than  in  other  coun- 
tries, and  that  we  are  more  exempt  than  they  from  physi- 
cal deformities  and  defects.  Far,  indeed,  are  we  in  any 
of  these  matters  from  being  what  we  ought  to  be,  but 
still  it  behooves  us  to  recognize  the  position  we  occupy,, 
and  to  look  to  it  jealously  that  we  lose  no  point  in 
that  competition  in  health  and  strength  which,  after  all,, 
lies  at  the  very  foundation  of  industrial  prosperity.  The 
Technical  Commissioner,  although  looking  with  unpro- 
fessional eyes,  did  not  fail  to  notice  the  inferiority  of 
continental  operatives  to  English  ones  in  bodily  stamina 
and  working  power.  “ Swiss  workers,”  they  report,  “ are 
short  and  thick-set  in  comparison  with  English  ones.”' 
“The  factory  girls  of  Saxony,”  they  declare,  “are  less 
comely  than  those  of  Nottingham.”  “The  wool-workers 
of  Alsace,”  they  say,  “are  not  equal  in  strength  to  those 
of  Yorkshire  and  Lancashire,”  and  German  engineers* 


Handcraft. 


13] 


163 


although  intelligent  and  healthy,  “cannot  get  through 
the  same  amount  of  work  with  English  ones.” 

Now  this  physical  superiority  and  better  health  of  our 
working  classes  is  surely  a most  precious  endowment, 
deserving  of  anxious  conservation.  On  the  lowest  ground, 
and  apart  from  that  higher  pleasure  in  existence  which  it 
connotes,  it  is  the  very  marrow  of  our  industrial  system. 
As  long  as  we  remain  a little  taller  than  our  industrial 
antagonists,  as  long  as  we  outweigh  them  in  the  balance, 
score  more  on  the  spirometer  than  they,  and  outstrip 
them  in  athletic  sports,  we  can  afford  to  look  calmly  on 
temporary  checks  to  industry  in  times  of  readjustment,  to 
pursue  without  apprehension  our  destined  path,  and  to 
keep  our  heads  cool  even  on  the  subject  of  technical 
education.  But  there  is  need,  and  grave  need,  at  this 
juncture,  of  emphasizing  the  truth  that  corporeal  health 
and  vigor  lie  at  the  root  of  all  true  success  in  national 
as  in  individual  life ; for  there  is  some  risk  that  in  our 
alarm  at  the  losses  we  have  sustained  and  with  which 
we  are  threatened,  in  the  industrial  campaign,  and  at  the 
manoeuvres  of  those  who  strive  with  us,  we  may  be  led 
to  adopt  measures  calculated  to  sacrifice  a cardinal  to 
a subsidiary  condition  of  victory.  There  are  preachers 
abroad,  able  and  eloquent  preachers  too,  who,  being 
deeply  impressed  by  our  diminished  exports  and  con- 
tracting markets  and  by  the  educational  activity  of  the 
Continent,  would  persuade  us  that  our  only  hope  for  the 
future  lies  in  a high  pressure  and  enforced  system  of 
education,  elementary  and  technical,  which,  if  carried  out 
as  they  advise,  would,  by  sapping  the  nervous  energy 
of  our  people  and  reducing  their  health  standard,  do 
infinitely  more  mischief  in  our  industrial  future  than  any 
attainments  which  it  might  secure  could  do  good. 

If,  bearing  in  mind  that  the  pre-eminence  of  this  coun- 
try has  been  achieved  under  no  very  advanced  system  of 
what  is  commonly  called  education,  but  by  virtue,  in  great 


164  Handcraft . [14 

measure,  of  natural  advantages  and  of  the  strength,  health, 
spirit,  and  endurance  of  our  men  and  women,  we  proceed 
to  inquire  how  this  strength,  health,  spirit,  and  endurance, 
originally  race  characteristics,  have  been  fostered  and 
sustained,  we  meet  immediately  one  circumstance  or  set  of 
circumstances  which,  amongst  many,  merits  special  con- 
sideration in  this  connection,  and  that  is  the  restrictions 
which  have,  for  some  time,  been  imposed  amongst  us 
on  the  labor  of  the  weak  and  immature.  These  restric- 
tions, as  has  been  admitted,  somewhat  handicap  our 
manufacturers  in  the  meantime  ; but  no  medical  man  who 
examines  their  effects,  and  contrasts  the  accounts  trans- 
mitted to  us  of  the  dwarfed,  bandy-legged,  and  sickly 
factory  hands  of  the  past  with  the  actual  condition  of  our 
mill-workers  of  to-day,  can  doubt  that  they  have  been 
beneficent  in  their  operations,  and  must  in  the  long  run 
give  us  the  advantage  over  manufacturing  countries  in 
which  they  are  not  adopted.  Even  as  it  is,  our  operatives 
hold  their  own  and  produce  as  much  per  head  as  those 
who,  on  the  Continent,  toil  for  far  longer  hours.  And  in 
the  future,  it  may  be  safely  predicted,  they  will,  if  they 
have  their  health  maintained  at  a high  level  and  are 
protected  against  exhaustion  and  over-strain,  altogether 
distance  those  who  go  on  making  inordinate  drafts  on 
their  constitutional  resources.  But  in  order  that  they  may 
do  this  the  benefits  of  these  restrictions  must  be  secured 
to  them,  and  all  attempts  resisted  to  introduce,  under  a 
disguise,  what  would  practically  amount  to  an  extension 
of  the  hours  of  labor.  We  are  told  with  admiration  of 
some  employers  on  the  Continent  who  have  provided  for 
their  hands  evening  classes,  in  which  subjects  having  a 
direct  bearing  on  their  daily  work  are  taught,  and  attend- 
ance on  which  is  compulsory  up  to  certain  ages,  and  it  is 
not  obscurely  hinted  that  technical  education  might  be 
partly  carried  on  here  by  some  such  method.  Now,  yield- 
ing to  no  one  in  my  appreciation  of  technical  and  science 


i5] 


Handcraft. 


165 


teaching  in  their  proper  place,  I would  venture  to  urge, 
that  it  would  be  disastrous  to  resort  to  such  a veiled 
scheme  of  industrial  home-lessons  or  keeping  in,  and  that 
what  the  bulk  of  our  unskilled  or  slightly  skilled  opera- 
tives, who  form  the  broad  base  of  our  pyramid  of  indus- 
try, require  in  their  evening  hours,  is  not  a renewal  or 
continuation  of  the  work  of  the  day,  but  an  entire  change, 
healthy  exercise,  restorative  rest,  exhilarating  recreation, 
and  complete  liberty  to  do  with  their  leisure  what  they 
please.  Let  there  be  science  and  technical  and  literary 
classes  for  those  who  have  the  will  and  power  to  push 
on — the  born  sons  of  genius  or  the  tortured  victims  of 
ambition — or  for  those  who  find  refreshment  in  intellectual 
pursuits ; but  for  the  dense  masses  of  our  work-people, 
who  need  only  a small  modicum  of  specialized  skill  in 
their  daily  task,  quite  other  pastimes  are  desirable  in 
order  that  degeneracy  may  be  avoided.  Their  lives  are 
tedious  and  monotonous,  and  they  want  variety,  and 
would  certainly  not  do  their  work  any  better  for  being 
lectured  on  applied  science.  For  them,  nothing  but  injury 
to  health,  and  mental  dyspepsia  or  discontentment,  could 
accrue  from  any  curtailment  of  their  off-time,  and  indeed 
the  tendency  should  be  rather  to  extend  than  to  curtail 
this.  The  division  of  labor,  which  is  still  steadily  going 
on,  almost  involves  this,  for  it  is  impossible  for  any- 
one, without  detriment,  to  keep  at  some  minute  bit  of 
handicraft  for  the  same  time  that  might  be  devoted  to  a 
varied  and  interesting  occupation,  without  fatigue.  And 
the  segregation  of  labor  in  factories  means  the  same 
thing,  for  the  drain  on  attention  is  much  heavier  in  the 
case  of  work  carried  on  in  a crowd  than  in  that  of  work 
done  in  privacy ; and  the  growing  nervousness  of  the 
age,  which  elementary  education  must,  however  wisely 
regulated,  more  or  less  aggravate  (for  all  education  tends 
to  nervousness),  also  suggests  a lightening  rather  than  an 
augmentation  of  our  labor  burdens,  for  the  more  sentient 


1 66  Handcraft.  [16 

a human  being  becomes,  the  less  capable  is  he  of  bear- 
ing long  drawn  out  drudgery.  The  load  that  was  borne 
with  dogged  determination  by  coarsely  organized  nerves 
becomes  excruciating  to  these  that  are  finely  strung,  and 
must  be  often  shifted,  or  else  destructive  anodynes  will 
be  had  recourse  to.  The  rapid  multiplication  of  music- 
halls  in  our  towns  of  late  years,  the  portentous  diffusion 
of  betting,  and  the  ever-increasing  railway-traveling  of 
our  working  classes  are,  I conceive,  signs  of  the  craving 
for  change  and  excitement  which  monotonous  occupation 
engenders,  and  which  is  not  to  be  appeased  by  technical 
education,  or  banished  by  grandmotherly  meddling  on 
the  part  of  employers.  Unless  the  signs  of  the  times  are 
strangely  misread,  what  our  operatives  in  this  country 
require  are  good  wages,  ample  facilities  for  instruction 
and  amusement,  good  music,  accessible  art,  and  absolute 
freedom  to  regulate  their  own  affairs.  They  would  surely 
resent  the  dispensation — described  to  us  in  glowing  terms 
— under  which  many  Continental  operatives  are  content 
to  live,  a dispensation  under  which  they  are  housed,  and 
gardened,  and  tutored,  and  doctored,  and  co-operative- 
stored,  and  superannuated  by  the  firm.  It  must  be 
confessed  that  a dismal  sense  of  inexorable  routine  and 
individual  extinction  is  created  by  the  pretty  picture  of 
their  well-ordered  lives.  ‘There  comes  a not  unwarrant- 
able apprehension  that  imbecility  might  result  in  a few 
generations  from  such  wholesale  and  pertinacious  dry- 
nursing,  under  which  crowds  of  men  are  grown,  fed,  and 
tended  with  an  eye  to  their  productiveness,  just  as  flocks 
of  Aylesbury  ducks  are  with  an  eye  to  their  plumpness  ; 
and  a suspicion  steals  into  the  mind  that  the  tatters  and 
hardships  of  the  gipsy’s  tent  are  in  some  lights  preferable 
to  such  clock-work  comfort  and  prim  propriety.  One  is 
almost  tempted  to  travesty  the  Laureate  and  exclaim  : 

Were  it  not  better  not  to  be 

Than  live  so  full  of  industry. 


Handcraft . 


167 


17] 

There  is  no  doubt  something  attractive  in  the  outside 
survey  of  a huge  well-oiled,  smoothly-working  social  ma- 
chine, but  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  we  do  not  include  in 
our  dreams  of  industrial  development  the  conversion  of  the 
whole  country  into  an  immense  factory,  spotlessly  white- 
washed, well  ventilated,  with  a smokeless  chimney,  and 
surrounded  by  garden  allotments,  schools,  museums,  labo- 
ratories, laundries,  cottage  hospitals,  and  neat  cemeter- 
ies over  which  “well-groomed  weeping  willows”  wave 
conventional  woe. 

The  third  factor  in  the  industrial  superiority  of  this 
country,  second  only  in  importance  to  physical  develop- 
ment and  health,  is  the  inherited  skill  of  our  work-people 
— that  special  quickness  and  aptitude  of  hand  and  eye 
which  are  drawn  from  a long  line  of  industrially  trained 
ancestors.  Anyone  with  half  an  eye  must  have  seen  how 
gestures  and  habits  of  movement  and  expression  pass  on 
from  sire  to  son  even  when  imitation  was  impossible,  and 
must  agree  with  George  Eliot  when  she  exclaims — 

I need  a record  deeper  than  the  skin  ! 

What,  shall  the  trick  of  nostrils  and  of  lips 
Descend  through  generations,  and  the  soul 
That  moves  within  our  frame  like  God  in  worlds, 
Convulsing,  urging,  melting,  withering, 

Imprint  no  records,  leave  no  documents, 

Of  her  great  history  ? 

Deep  imprints,  elaborate  documents  inscribed  with  the 
history  of  many  a silent  and  forgotten  soul,  exist  in  each 
of  us.  All  students  of  handwriting  know  how  certain 
styles  of  penmanship  run  in  families  and  remain  unaltered 
under  the  most  diverse  methods  of  instruction,  and  all 
students  of  heredity  will  be  prepared  to  admit  that  not 
only  may  the  children’s  teeth  be  set  on  edge  because  their 
fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes,  but  that  their  fingers  may 
be  gifted  with  nimbleness  because  their  fathers’  brows 
have  known  the  sweat  of  labor.  There  is  one  thing  that 
cannot  be  manufactured  to  order,  and  that  is  the  genius 


1 68  Handcraft.  [18 

of  a people.  It  is  not  by  the  leaves  of  a summer,  multi- 
tudinous though  they  be,  but  by  the  immemorial  foliage 
of  bygone  years  that  the  trunks  of  the  forest  have  been 
built  up;  and  it  is  not  by  the  exertions  of  any  one  gene- 
ration, but  by  slow  increments  of  growth  through  centuries, 
that  English  brain  and  muscle  have  reached  that  special 
development  which  is  the  substratum  of  our  manufac- 
turing ability.  It  is  certainly  not  in  one  generation  that 
foreigners,  with  all  the  advantages  of  technical  education, 
but  with  less  handy  progenitors,  can  acquire  the  manual 
dexterity  which  English  people  possess,  and  of  which 
different  varieties  exist  in  different  districts  of  the  country, 
in  which  different  kinds  of  industries,  involving  different 
kinds  of  movements,  are  carried  on.  The  spinners  of 
Oldham  are  said  to  be  born  with  a twist  in  their  fingers 
and  thumbs,  and  in  the  button-mills  of  Birmingham  I was 
assured  by  experienced  persons,  that  children  brought 
in  from  agricultural  districts  are  slower  in  picking  up 
the  manipulations  required  in  that  trade,  and  clumsier 
in  performing  them,  than  the  children  of  Birmingham 
button-workers  themselves.  In  a large  number  of  indus- 
tries in  which  English  workmen  excel,  it  is  acknowledged 
that  an  inherited  predisposition  has  had  something  to 
do  with  their  excellence,  and  wherever,  on  the  Conti- 
nent, any  particular  industry  is  conducted  with  peculiar 
skill,  it  is  pointed  out  that  a congenital  adaptation  to 
it  exists.  Thus,  as  regards  the  hand-loom  silk-weavers 
of  Lyons,  the  Technical  Commissioners  say  that  their  skill 
is  simply  marvelous,  families  having  been  for  generations 
distinguished  for  dexterity  and  delicacy  in  manipulations. 
"‘From  father  to  son,”  they  remark,  “ the  loom  has  been 
handed  down,  and  the  weavers  meet  together  and  talk  of 
their  work  until  technical  knowledge  has  become  natural 
to  them,  and  skill  has  been  raised  to  a high  degree  of 
excellence.”  Of  course  machines,  like  Melchisedek,  have 
neither  father  nor  mother,  and  are  innocent  of  hereditary 


*9] 


Handcraft. 


169 


tendencies  ; but  wherever  human  beings  are  engaged  in 
production,  the  fruits  of  their  labor  will,  in  quantity  or 
quality,  bear  traces,  like  the  cadence  of  their  voice  and 
accents  of  their  speech,  of  the  lineage  from  which  they 
have  sprung  and  of  the  locality  in  which  they  have  been 
bred.  The  spider  spreads  its  web,  the  silkworm  spins  its 
cocoon,  and  the  upholsterer  bee  hangs  its  cell  with  the 
crimson  damask  of  the  rose,  without  any  technical  educa- 
tion, and  inherited  skill  must  count  for  something  in  the 
useful  arts. 

But  inherited  skill,  the  third  factor  in  our  industrial 
supremacy,  will  be  of  small  avail  to  human  beings  if  it  is 
not  called  into  play  by  timely  exercise,  and  this  brings  us 
to  the  fourth,  and  last-named  factor — early  training  of  the 
hand.  In  the  affairs  of  every  organ  in  the  body,  it  is  now 
recognized,  there  is  a tide  which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads 
on  to  fortune,  but  which,  if  neglected  at  this  critical  time, 
leaves  the  organ  more  or  less  hopelessly  stranded,  and,  in 
the  case  of  the  hand,  that  tide  is  in  flood  early  in  life. 
Writing  masters  attest  that  children  who  are  left  to  a 
certain  age  without  instruction  can  never  afterwards  be 
taught  to  write  with  grace  and  fluency,  and  a glance 
at  any  biographical  dictionary  will  convince  that  almost 
all  those  who  have  arrived  at  eminence  in  pictorial  or 
plastic  art  have  felt  the  impulse  to  manual  expression  in 
early  life,  and  have  exercised  themselves  in  it  while  still 
very  young.  Giotto  was  discovered  by  Cimabue,  sketch- 
ing on  a stone  one  of  the  sheep  which  he  was  shepherd- 
ing when  only  ten  years  old.  Gainsborough  gave  proof 
of  marked  talent  for  landscape  painting  when  scarcely 
fourteen.  Canova  modelled  exquisitely  in  butter  when 
thirteen  years  old.  Turner  exhibited  in  the  Royal  Acad- 
emy at  the  age  of  fifteen.  Sir  Edwin  Landseer  gained 
the  prize  of  the  Society  of  Arts  when  he  was  thirteen. 
George  Moreland  had  pictures  accepted  by  the  Academy 
when  not  yet  ten.  Thorwaldsen  had  made  a reputation 


170 


Handcraft. 


[20 


as  a carver  of  the  figure-heads  of  ships  when  thirteen,  and 
Wilkie  drew  spirited  portraits  of  his  schoolfellows  when 
only  seven.  And  so  in  every  employment  in  which  the 
hand  is  used,  it  might  be  shown  that  those  who  have 
become  most  proficient  have  used  the  hand  early,  and 
that,  as  an  instrument,  the  hand  is  always  awkward  and 
unwieldy  that  has  been  left  untrained  in  youth. 

But  this  great  principle,  that  the  hand  that  is  to  be 
really  a hand  and  not  a bunch  of  thumbs  must  be  trained 
early,  rests  now  no  longer  on  empirical  observations,  but 
has  a physiological  explanation  beneath  it.  It  has  now 
been  established  by  the  researches  of  Hughlings-Jackson, 
Ferrier,  and  others,  that  the  brain  is  not  as  it  was  at  one 
time  supposed,  a single  organ  acting  as  a whole,  but  a 
congeries  of  organs  capable  of  more  or  less  independent 
action.  The  brain,  it  has  been  shown,  may  be  roughly 
divided  into  a sensory  and  a motor  area,  and  an  area  that 
is  not  demonstrably  either  sensory  or  motor,  the  last- 
named  lying  in  front,  and  being  probably  concerned  in 
the  higher  mental  processes,  the  second,  lying  behind  and 
below,  being  the  receptacle  of  the  impressions  poured  in 
by  the  senses,  and  the  third,  lying  in  the  middle,  being 
the  fountain  of  all  muscular  movements  in  which  will, 
intention,  or  memory  are  involved.  And  it  has  been 
further  shown  that  this  motor  area,  lying  in  the  middle 
of  the  brain,  is  made  up  of  a number  of  distinct  centres, 
presiding  over  groups  of  muscles,  and  excitation  of  which 
is  followed  by  definite  movements.  This  is  clearly  exhib- 
ited in  Ferrier’s  experiments.  The  animal,  let  us  say  a 
monkey,  deeply  asleep  from  chloroform,  lies  on  the  table 
before  the  Professor.  The  top  of  the  skull  is  rapidly 
removed,  the  membranes  are  divided,  and  the  living  but 
slumbrous  brain  is  exposed  to  view.  The  Professor  then 
touching  certain  points  on  the  surface  of  the  brain,  with 
the  electrodes  connected  with  a galvanic  battery,  produ- 
ces with  unerring  precision  whatever  movements  may  be 


21] 


Handcraft . 


171 


desired.  I will  cause  the  monkey,  he  says,  to  close  its 
hand;  he  touches  a particular  convolution,  when  instantly 
the  fist  is  clenched.  I will  cause  it,  he  goes  on,  to  move 
its  tail  ; he  touches  another  point,  and  the  caudal  appen- 
dage (if  it  happens  to  have  one)  is  wagged  vigorously.  I 
will  cause  it,  he  continues,  to  protrude  its  tongue ; he 
touches  another  point,  and  out  comes  the  unruly  member. 
And  so  on  through  movements  of  the  lip  and  nostril,  leg 
and  foot,  hand  and  arm,  trunk  and  head,  mouth  and  eyes. 
In  every  instance  the  definite  movement  predicted  follows 
on  the  galvanic  stimulation  of  the  appropriate  centre,  and 
the  same  movement  invariably  follows  the  stimulation  of 
the  same  centre.  To  the  uninitiated  observer,  the  whole 
process  looks  like  magic  or  an  ingenious  trick,  and  one 
layman  who  witnessed  it  was  with  difficulty  persuaded 
that  the  monkey  was  not  made  of  gutta-percha  and  fitted 
with  springs.  Not  more  certainly  does  the  piano  respond 
by  certain  notes  to  the  depression  of  certain  keys  than 
does  the  brain  answer  by  definite  movements  to  the  elec- 
tric touch  of  certain  defined  centres. 

Now  these  motor  centres,  which  have  been  experi- 
mentally demonstrated  in  the  brains  of  animals,  have 
been  proved  by  the  demonstrations  of  that  arch-vivisector 
disease — who  is  always  performing  the  cruelest  experi- 
ments on  human  beings,  and  without  anaesthetics — to  exist 
in  the  human  brain  in  exactly  the  same  order  that  they  do 
in  the  brains  of  animals,  so  that  we  are  scientifically  enti- 
tled to  affirm  that  a large  area  in  the  middle  of  the  human 
brain  is  made  up  of  motor  centres,  and  that  amongst  these 
motor  centres  there  is  a series  or  group  which  presides 
over  the  movements  of  the  hand  and  arm.  But  in  speak- 
ing of  this  middle  region  of  the  brains  and  the  centres 
included  in  it  as  motor,  it  must  be  mentioned  that  the 
word  motor  is  used  in  a special  sense.  These  centres  are 
not  motor  simply  in  the  sense  of  sending  forth  motor 
impulses  in  response  to  excitation  from  without — the  re- 


172 


Handcraft. 


[22 


flex  centres  in  the  spinal  cord  can  do  that — but  motor  in 
the  sense  of  being  the  springs  of  movements  dictated  by 
the  will,  or  necessary  for  the  expression  of  thought  or 
emotion,  or  the  gratification  of  desire,  and  in  the  sense  of 
being  the  repository  of  the  chronicles  of  all  the  knowledge 
that  our  muscular  operations  have  put  us  in  possession  of. 
Ideal  movements  form  a no  less  important  element  in  our 
intellectual  acquisitions  than  ideally  revived  sensations 
which  we  have  experienced,  and  the  muscles  not  only 
obey  the  commands  of  volition,  but  vastly  increase  our 
information  and  furnish  us  with  indispensable  instruments 
of  thought.  The  crudest  analysis  of  our  ideas  at  once 
reveals  to  us  that  we  have  very  few  that  are  of  purely 
sensory  composition,  and  that  very  few  objects  are  known 
to  us  by  their  sensory  characters  alone.  If  we  conjure  up 
before  us  the  idea  of  an  orange,  we  have  a revival  in 
memory  not  merely  of  the  brilliant  patch  of  color  that 
affected  the  retina,  and  of  the  fragrance  that  titillated  the 
olfactory  nerves,  but  of  the  circular  sweep  of  the  eyeballs 
caused  by  the  movements  of  the  muscles  in  traveling 
round  the  circumference  of  the  figure.  If  we  recall  in 
memory  some  bygone  conversation,  or  a passage  from 
some  favorite  author,  we  revive  not  merely  the  sounds  of 
the  words  or  the  vision  of  the  printed  symbols  represent- 
ing them,  but  the  actual  movements  of  the  muscles  of  the 
chest,  larynx,  tongue,  and  lips  that  were  necessary  for 
their  articulation.  Brain  motor  centres  are  incessantly 
taking  an  indispensable  share  in  our  mental  life,  and  mind 
would  be  as  impossible  without  them  as  would  the  circu- 
lation of  the  blood  without  one  ventricle  of  the  heart;  and 
besides  this,  they  are  constantly  animating  and  controlling 
our  muscular  apparatus  in  all  its  intelligent  applications. 
It  is  plain,  then,  that  the  highest  possible  functional 
activity  of  these  centres  is  a thing  to  be  aimed  at  with  a 
view  to  general  mental  power,  as  well  as  with  a view  to 
muscular  expertness ; and  as  the  hand  centres  hold  a 


23] 


Handcraft. 


173 


prominent  place  amongst  the  motor  centres,  and  are  in 
relation  with  an  organ  which,  in  prehension,  in  touch,  and 
in  a thousand  different  combinations  of  movement,  adds 
enormously  to  our  intellectual  resources,  besides  enabling 
us  to  give  almost  unlimited  expression  to  our  thoughts 
and  sentiments,  it  is  plain  that  the  highest  possible  func- 
tional activity  of  these  hand  centres  is  of  paramount 
consequence,  not  less  to  mental  grasp  than  to  industrial 
success.  And  that  this  highest  functional  activity  of  the 
hand  centres  is  only  to  be  reached  through  the  exercise 
of  the  hand,  and  the  early  exercise  of  the  hand,  I shall 
next  endeavor  to  show. 

Motor  centres  in  the  brain,  although  capable,  in  a way, 
of  spontaneous  and  independent  action,  do  not,  as  a rule, 
act  singly,  but  in  combined  and  blended  action  with  each 
other  and  with  sensory  centres,  and  in  order  that  centre 
may  thus  co-operate  with  centre,  pathways  of  communi- 
cation must  be  opened  between  them.  The  little  nerve 
cells  that  form  the  active  part  of  each  centre — the  hid- 
den arcana  of  the  mental  forces — must  put  forth  buds 
and  branches,  or  arms  to  entertwine,  or  join  hands 
with  branches  or  arms  from  the  cells  of  other  centres, 
and  innumerable  cross-roads,  loops  and  circuits  must  be 
opened  up  and  worn  smooth  by  traffic,  in  order  that  a 
brain  potential  may  become  a brain  actual.  A brain  that 
is  to  be  serviceable  must  be  used  and  well  used,  and  what 
is  true  of  a brain  is  true  of  all  its  parts.  A brain  centre 
that  is  to  be  serviceable  must  be  used  and  well  used  ; and 
so  it  follows  that  the  hand  centres,  if  they  are  to  be 
serviceable,  must  be  used  and  well  used.  If  a brain  or 
centre  is  not  used  at  all  it  undergoes  degeneration,  if  it  is 
imperfectly  used  it  becomes  weak  and  sluggish,  if  it  is 
excessively  used  it  becomes  irritable  and  unstable.  And 
the  just  use  of  every  brain  centre  necessarily  implies  the 
just  use  of  the  bodily  organs  with  which  it  is  in  connec- 
tion. It  is  impossible  to  use  a brain  dissevered  from  a 


174 


Handcraft. 


[24 


body,  a visual  centre  cut  off  from  the  eye,  a motor  centre 
cut  off  from  its  tributary  muscles.  It  is  impossible  to 
establish  communication  between  centre  and  centre,  unless 
the  parts  subtending  these  centres  are  used.  A muscle, 
the  nerve  of  which  has  been  divided  so  that  it  can  no 
longer  receive  messages  from  its  centre,  undergoes  fatty 
degeneration,  and  becomes  permanently  useless,  and  a 
centre  that  is  separated  from  its  peripheral  sphere  under- 
goes degeneration  and  becomes  useless  also.  Gudden,  a 
Swiss  physiologist,  has  shown  that  if  the  eye  of  a young 
pigeon  be  enucleated,  the  visual  centre  in  the  brain  will 
be  found  shortly  afterwards  to  have  wasted  away ; and  it 
is  a common  observation  that  in  persons  who  have  been 
long  bed-ridden  by  chronic  disease,  and  debarred  from  all 
muscular  exercise,  the  whole  motor  area  of  the  brain  is, 
after  death,  more  or  less  atrophied  and  water-logged.  It 
is  unquestionably  essential  to  the  welfare  of  all  motor 
centres,  and  especially  of  the  large  and  complicated  motor 
centres  of  the  hand,  that  the  parts  with  which  they  are 
immediately  connected  should  be  used  in  an  active  and 
varied  manner. 

But  I must  go  a little  farther  than  this,  and  maintain  that 
use,  to  be  truly  useful  to  brain  centres,  must  be  resorted 
to,  at  the  proper  time,  and  that  exercise  has  an  even  more 
significant  relation  to  the  growth  and  development  of 
centres  than  to  the  maintenance  of  their  healthy  activity. 

The  several  centres  of  the  brain  do  not  expand  and 
blossom  all  at  once.  They  evolve  gradually  and  in  suc- 
cession, and  in  every  brain  there  are  at  one  and  the  same 
time  zones  of  budding  spring,  of  luxuriant  summer,  and 
of  harvest,  opulent  or  meagre  as  the  case  may  be.  In 
the  first  months  of  life  the  human  brain  is  smooth  on  its 
surface,  as  the  brains  of  many  animals  are  permanently 
(the  rabbit  for  instance)  ; and  it  is  during  infancy,  child- 
hood, and  youth,  that  the  convolutions,  or  foldings  on 
its  surface,  which  so  largely  increase  its  area,  make  their 


25] 


Handcraft. 


*75 


appearance,  while  at  the  same  time  the  cells  in  the  grey 
matter,  which  at  birth  are  round,  put  forth  buds  and  fila- 
ments, and  become  caudate,  stellate,  and  branched.  The 
brain  may  go  on  increasing  in  size  up  till  twenty-five 
years  of  age,  but  it  is  during  infancy  and  childhood  that 
it  grows  most  rapidly;  and  then  it  is  that  the  convolu- 
tions are  rounded  off,  and  the  centres  evolved,  not  all 
contemporaneously,  but  in  definite  order  and  at  different 
rates;  then  it  is  that  the  cells  in  each  centre  are  plastic, 
mobile,  and  prolific,  and  may  be  stimulated  to  extend 
their  connections.  I need  scarcely  remark  that  the  infant 
uses  its  leg  muscles  in  walking  long  before  its  articulatory 
muscles  in  speech,  the  explanation  of  this  being  that  the 
motor  centres  of  the  leg,  in  the  brain,  are  in  advance  in 
their  development  of  the  motor  centres  of  the  tongue  and 
lips.  We  now  know  that  each  centre  has  its  own  nascent 
or  growth  period,  which  is  sometimes  very  short,  as  it 
must  be  in  the  centre  in  which  the  movements  of  sucking 
are  co-ordinated,  and  sometimes  very  long,  as  in  those  in 
which  are  co-ordinated  the  movements  of  the  hand,  from 
its  first  feeble  grasp,  up  to  its  consummate  achievements 
in  shaping  and  making.  But  whether  the  nascent  period 
be  long  or  short,  it  is  of  signal  importance  to  the  whole 
future  of  the  centre,  that  it  should  be  taken  advantage  of 
while  it  lasts,  and  that  the  organs  related  to  the  centre 
should  be  duly  exercised  during  its  continuance.  If  the 
nascent  period  is  permitted  to  slip  past  unimproved,  no 
subsequent  labor  or  assiduity  will  compensate  for  the  loss 
thus  sustained. 

As  regards  the  sensory  centres  there  is  not  much  danger 
of  their  remaining  unexercised  ; for  unless  you  shut  a boy 
up  in  a dark  and  silent  chamber,  or  blindfold  him  and 
•stuff  his  ears  with  cotton-wool,  you  can  scarcely  prevent 
him  from  using  his  eyes  and  ears,  while  the  probability 
is  that  his  palate,  if  he  be  left  to  himself,  will  suffer 
rather  from  over-indulgence  than  from  defective  stimula- 


176 


Handcraft . 


[26 


tion.  But  as  regards  the  motor  centres  the  case  is  very 
different,  for  we  can  restrain  the  use  of  the  muscles  as  a 
whole  or  in  groups,  and  deprive  them  of  that  healthy 
activity  which  is  needful  for  their  own  development  and 
for  the  well-balanced  growth  of  the  brain.  We  can  pin 
boys  down  on  benches,  we  can  restrain  them  for  restless- 
ness, we  can  coerce  them  to  walk  sedately,  we  can  with- 
hold their  hands  from  exploration  and  mischief,  and  their 
whole  bodies  from  rollicking  activity  ; and  in  doing  so 
we  are  modifying  the  development  of  their  brains.  In 
two  cases  since  the  definition  of  the  centres  by  Ferrier 
was  accomplished,  post  mortem  examinations  have  been 
made  on  the  bodies  of  adult  men  who  had  each  lost  a leg 
in  early  infancy,  and  in  the  brains  of  both  of  them  the 
centre  for  the  lost  leg  was  found  somewhat  stunted  and 
undeveloped.  On  the  other  hand,  post  mortem  examina- 
tions have  been  performed  on  the  bodies  of  several  men 
who  had  had  a leg  amputated  after  they  had  grown  up, 
and  had  lived  for  many  years  thereafter,  and  in  their 
brains  the  leg-centres  have  always  been  found  of  fully 
average  size  ; from  which  it  may  be  deduced  that  a 
brain  motor  centre,  cheated  of  appropriate  exercise  at  its 
nascent  or  growth  period,  does  not  develop  properly,  but 
that  the  same  centre  if  deprived  of  appropriate  exer- 
cise after  it  is  once  fully  developed,  does  not  necessarily 
dwindle  and  decay.  In  the  latter  case,  having,  during  its 
development,  formed  communications  with  many  other 
centres,  it  is  not  altogether  thrown  out  of  the  circle  of 
mental  life  when  the  limb,  which  informs  it,  and  by  which 
it  is  informed,  is  removed,  but  may  still  continue  to  take 
part  in  ideation,  and  to  maintain  its  nutrition  by  adequate 
functional  activity. 

Now  if  the  argument  that  the  development  of  motor* 
centres  in  the  brain  hinges  in  a great  degree  on  the 
movements  and  exercises  of  youth  has  been  followed  and 
accepted,  it  will  be  readily  understood  how  important  the 


27] 


Handcraft . 


1 77 


nature  of  the  part  played  by  early  exercise  of  the  hand 
is  in  evoking  inherited  skill,  and  in  creating  the  industrial 
capabilities  of  a nation.  It  will  be  readily  perceived  how 
essential  it  is  still  to  insist  on  early  exercises  of  the  hand,  if 
our  industrial  superiority  is  to  be  maintained.  The  nascent 
or  development  period  of  the  hand  centres  has  not  yet 
been  accurately  measured  off;  it  probably  extends  from 
the  first  year  to  the  end  of  adolescence  ; but  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  its  most  active  epoch  is  from  the  fourth 
to  the  fifteenth  year,  after  which  these  centres  become 
comparatively  fixed  and  stubborn.  Hence  it  can  be  under- 
stood that  boys  and  girls  whose  hands  have  been  left 
altogether  untrained  up  to  the  fifteenth  year  are  practi- 
cally incapable  of  high  manual  efficiency  ever  afterwards. 
And  hence  we  can  comprehend  how,  by  keeping  the 
children  of  our  working-classes  without  hand-training,  and 
in  school  up  to  that  age,  poring  over  books,  by  cramming 
them  with  decimals  and  geography,  while  their  hands 
hang  flaccid,  and  their  digits  grow  clumsy  and  stiff,  by 
withholding  them  from  timely  exercise  in  handicraft,  we 
should  be  doing  our  best  to  abolish  the  skill  of  our 
next  generation  of  workers.  It  has  been  urged  lately  by 
men  of  light  and  leading — amongst  others  by  Mr.  Wilson,, 
head-master  of  Clifton  College — that  the  age  of  compul- 
sory elementary  education  should  be  prolonged  by  a year 
or  two,  but  it  is  earnestly  to  be  trusted  that  very  careful 
inquiries  will  be  instituted  before  any  step  of  that  sort  is 
sanctioned.  To  me  it  seems  not  unlikely  that  such  an 
extension  of  verbal  at  the  expense  of  manual  education 
would  defeat  the  very  object  which  those  recommending 
it  hold  in  view,  and  tend  ultimately  to  banish  manual 
dexterity  and  expertness  from  our  shores.  All  practical 
men  with  whom  I have  conversed  on  the  subject,  have 
agreed  that  the  manual  training  of  the  artizan  or  opera- 
tive should  not  be  postponed  beyond  the  fourteenth 
year,  and  that  the  shop  or  factory  is  the  only  school  in 


i78 


Handcraft. 


[28 


which  thorough  manual  training  can  be  obtained.  Book 
learning  is  an  excellent  thing  in  due  season,  but  so  is 
hand  learning,  and  the  one  should  not  be  allowed  to 
usurp  the  place  of  the  other.  An  infant  taken  from  the 
cradle  and  reared  in  swaddling  bands  so  as  to  be  deprived 
of  all  muscular  movement,  and  thus  of  the  stimulus  requis- 
ite to  the  development  of  the  motor  centres  in  its  cere- 
brum, would  almost  infallibly  grow  up  an  idiot,  and  the 
boy  who  is  reared  with  his  hands  bandaged,  physically 
or  morally,  or  who  is  by  any  means  withheld  from  ample 
exercise  and  varied  discipline  of  these  wonderful  and 
willing  organs,  must  grow  up,  to  some  extent,  feeble  and 
incapable.  Depend  upon  it  that  much  of  the  confusion  of 
thought,  awkwardness,  bashfulness,  stutterings,  stupidity, 
and  irresolution  which  we  encounter  in  the  world,  and 
even  in  highly  educated  men  and  women,  is  dependent 
on  defective  or  misdirected  muscular  training,  and  that 
the  thoughtful  and  diligent  cultivation  of  this  is  conducive 
to  breadth  of  mind  as  well  as  to  breadth  of  shoulders. 
Depend  upon  it  that  there  is  much  virtue,  intellectual  and 
moral,  in  a trade  well  learned,  and  that  a strong,  steady, 
adroit  and  obedient  right  hand  is  one  of  man’s  proudest 
possessions — as  proud  a possession  as  a glib  tongue,  for 
there  must  be  a strong,  steady,  adroit  and  obedient  brain 
behind  to  drive  it. 

The  most  learned  and  affluent  Jews  have  always  been 
taught  a trade.  Spinoza  made  spectacles,  and  Mendels- 
sohn spun  silk,  and  I would  firmly  maintain  that  every 
boy,  no  matter  what  his  social  position  or  prospects  may 
be,  should  learn  some  handicraft,  and  that  every  girl 
should  be  brought  up  to  ply  her  fingers  deftly.  In  sec- 
ondary and  high  schools,  shops  for  manual  training  are 
very  desirable,  and  such  shops  have  indeed  been  provided 
in  some  of  them,  though  perhaps  they  are  not  utilized 
as  systematically  and  generally  as  they  might  be.  Clear- 
ness and  precision  of  thought,  besides  some  vulgar  use- 


29] 


Handcraft. 


179 


fulness,  would  flow  from  a brief  apprenticeship  served  in 
them  during  the  course  of  the  longer  apprenticeship  to 
letters,  and  it  would  be  a preservative  to  mental  health, 
to  studious  brain-workers,  and  harassed  business-men  all 
their  days,  to  have  an  interesting  mechanical  occupation 
to  which  to  turn.  In  central  elementary  schools,  like 
those  in  Manchester,  Sheffield,  and  Birmingham,  into 
which  are  gathered  the  more  promising  and  advanced 
pupils  from  the  ordinary  elementary  schools  of  the  town 
or  city,  to  be  trained  as  managers,  foremen,  workmen  of  a 
superior  class,  or  for  even  higher  walks  in  life,  and  in 
which  the  period  of  elementary  education  is  prolonged, 
workshops  should  certainly  be  established,  so  that  the 
hand  centres  may  not  lie  fallow  too  long.  Such  man- 
ual schools,  attached  to  higher  elementary  schools,  even 
although  they  may  not  shorten  the  subsequent  apprentice- 
ship, still  do  valuable  work ; but  I question  much  whether 
success  can  attend  the  attempt  to  annex  such  schools  to 
ordinary  Board  or  denominational  schools.  The  fact  is 
that  elementary  schools,  with  the  Code  hanging  over 
them  and  crippled  by  the  system  of  payment  by  results, 
have  already  quite  enough  to  do.  The  withdrawal  of 
scholars  for  two  or  three  hours  a week,  for  manual  instruc- 
tion, from  the  obligatory  school  work,  while  the  require- 
ments of  examiners  remained  the  same,  could  only  lead 
to  increased  overpressure.  The  expense  and  practical 
difficulty  also  of  providing  tools,  material,  and  instruction 
at  a large  number  of  schools  must  always  stand  in  the 
way  of  the  multiplication  of  school  workshops.  The 
attempt  to  provide  such  workshops  in  connection  with 
two  Board  Schools  in  Manchester  has  proved  a failure, 
and  when  I visited  these  workshops  three  years  ago  they 
were  abandoned  to  dust  and  dilapidation,  containing  only 
some  warped  benches,  impossible  lathes,  broken  tools, 
and  very  uncouth  specimens  of  carpentry.  The  manual 
training  in  our  elementary  schools,  and  during  elementary 


Handcraft. 


[30 


180 

education  ages,  which  is,  as  it  has  been  argued,  of  such 
high  consequence  to  the  industrial  future  of  the  country, 
which  is,  by  stimulating  growth  in  the  hand  centres  in 
the  brain  when  they  are  in  their  most  mobile  and  ductile 
and  active  state,  to  preserve  our  national  skill,  and  brace 
the  sinews  of  the  national  character,  is,  I believe,  to 
be  most  readily  and  effectually  obtained  in  drawing  and 
modeling.  These  should  be  an  obligatory  part  of  school 
work,  and  should  be  taught  only  by  those  who  have  a 
knowledge  of  them,  and  have  been  trained  in  the  art  of 
teaching  them.  Living  as  we  have  done,  at  any  rate  in  the 
industrial  hives  of  England,  in  the  midst  of  much  ugliness, 
and  destitute  of  the  art  traditions  and  art  treasures  of 
some  continental  countries,  we  have  hitherto  neglected 
art  education,  and  have  been  content  that  drawing  should 
be  taught  by  making  shaky  copies  of  hideous  lithographs 
of  landscapes  and  cottages,  in  which  “a  decent  straight 
line  would,”  it  has  been  said,  “be  regarded  as  a blemish 
and  unpicturesque.”  But  we  are  awakening  to  a better 
sense  of  the  value  of  drawing  as  a branch  of  education, 
and  as  the  best  preliminary  education  for  the  hand.  We 
are  learning  that  drawing  when  taught  badly  is  mischiev- 
ous and  a waste  of  time,  but  when  taught  truly  is  con- 
ducive to  accuracy  of  observation,  to  reasoning  from  effect 
to  cause,  to  habits  of  neatness,  to  the  love  of  the  beau- 
tiful and  true,  and  to  that  hand-skill  which  it  is  of  such 
vital  consequence  to  us  to  retain.  By  some  mitigation 
of  the  demands  of  inspectors  in  compulsory  and  class 
subjects,  and  by  some  re-arrangement  of  our  school  curric- 
ulum, time  must  be  found  for  the  thorough  and  methodi- 
cal teaching  of  drawing,  which  in  infant  schools  should 
occupy  one  half  the  school  time,  and  in  elementary  schools 
hold  a more  prominent  and  honored  place  than  it  has 
heretofore  done.  Drawing  and  modeling,  it  appears  to 
me,  offer  the  true  universal  training  of  the  hand,  the  best 
exercise  for  the  hand  centres  in  the  brain,  and  the  most 


3i] 


Handcraft. 


1 8 1 

suitable  introduction  to  the  handicrafts  which  the  great 
bulk  of  our  people  must  follow  for  a living.  Now  that  the 
age  at  which  manual  occupations  are  begun  has  been 
raised,  and  properly  raised,  in  order  that  elementary 
education  may  be  secured,  drawing  and  modeling  have 
assumed  a new  importance  as  branches  of  education.  The 
time  to  begin  the  training  of  the  hand  is  in  the  infant 
school,  and  not  after  passing  the  sixth  standard. 

In  those  admirable  technical  schools  which  are  spring- 
ing up  in  our  large  towns,  to  serve  as  connecting  links 
between  the  elementary  school  and  the  workshop,  and 
in  which  the  foremen,  managers,  and  the  most  skilled 
artizans  of  the  future  will,  in  all  probability,  receive  some 
part  of  their  training,  instruction  in  drawing,  and  more 
especially  in  drawing  with  rule  and  compass,  will,  in 
conjunction  with  instruction  in  the  rudiments  of  science 
bearing  upon  industry,  take  an  exalted  position.  The 
organization  of  these  schools  at  present  leaves  little  to  be 
desired,  and  the  work  which  they  are  already  accomplish- 
ing is  of  conspicuous  value;  but  here,  again,  we  must 
guard  ourselves  against  expecting  too  much  from  them, 
and  against  extending  unduly  the  time  spent  in  them, 
remembering  that  the  workshop  is  still,  and  ever  must 
be,  the  best  school  for  the  foreman,  and  that  downright 
experience  is  the  choicest  training  for  the  practical  man. 
“ The  training  of  the  shop,”  said  Mr.  Reynolds,  the  founder 
and  able  and  energetic  superintendent  of  the  Technical 
School  at  Manchester,  in  an  interview  which  I had  with 
him  a short  time  ago,  “is,  and  always  must  be,  superior 
to  that  of  any  technical  or  manual  school.  It  is  carried 
on  under  a sense  of  responsibility,  and  with  a conscious- 
ness that  penalties  attach  to  failure  in  it,  and,  above  all, 
it  is  real  and  earnest.”  Mr.  Reynolds’  remarks  recalled 
to  me  the  old  story  of  the  amateur  angler  who  went  to 
fish  in  a Scotch  stream,  provided  with  the  finest  rod  and 
reel  that  money  could  buy,  the  most  invisible  tackle,  and 


Handcraft. 


[32 


182 

the  most  improved  fly-hooks,  and  who,  having  flogged  the 
water  for  hours  without  getting  a nibble,  had  the  mortifi- 
cation of  seeing  an  old  fisherman  near  him  pull  out  the 
trout  by  dozens,  with  nothing  but  a bit  of  stick  and  a 
string.  Puzzled  and  disappointed,  he  at  last  went  up 
to  the  old  man  and  asked  him,  “What  is  the  meaning 
of  this  ? How  comes  it  that  I,  with  the  most  perfect 
appliances,  catch  nothing,  while  you,  with  only  the  clum- 
siest tools,  are  so  successful?”  To  which  the  old  man 
answered:  “The  meaning  o’t,  Sir,  I tak’  to  be  this,  that 
I’m  fishin’  for  fish,  and  ye’re  fishin’  for  fun.”  The  story 
seems  to  me  to  illustrate  the  difference  which  must,  to 
some  extent,  exist  between  technical  school  and  workshop 
training,  and  to  explain  the  greater  intensity  of  purpose 
and  better  practical  results  which  must  attend  the  latter. 


1 


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GEORGE  P.  BROWN,  Editor. 

(^oi]oecie9.  to  star]  3.  at  tl]eliea3.  of  IpSueatiorjal  Ipe:rio<3= 
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EDUCATORS. 

IF  SUCH  a thing  as  the  publication  of  a 
journal  wisely  professional  in  character, 
yet  capable  of  attracting  and  holding  the 
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4 


The  Prang  Course  of  Instruction 
in  Form  and  Drawing. 

This  course  is  the  outgrowth  of  fifteen  years’  experience 
devoted  to  the  development  of  this  single  Subject  in  public 
education,  under  the  widest  and  most  varied  conditions. 

It  differs  widely  from  all  the  so-called  “ Systems  of  Draw- 
ing” before  the  public. 

The  aim  or  object  of  the  instruction  is  different. 

The  Methods  of  teaching  and  the  Work  of  pupils  are 
different. 

The  Models,  Text-books,  and  materials  are  on  an  entirely 
different  Educational  plan. 

The  results  in  Schools  are  widely  and  radically  different. 

It  is  the  only  Course  based  on  the  study  of  Models  and 
Objects  by  each  pupil. 

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